Men in Black III Delayed

Work on Will Smith’s “Men in Black 3″ has been temporarily halted amid rumors the star clashed with producers about the script.

The movie, which went into preproduction here last month, has been shut down for a second time because of arguments among Smith, director Barry Sonnenfeld and the producers, sources told Page Six.

While Sony studio bosses blame the delay on a change in New York state movie incentives, our source said, ” ‘Men in Black 3’ has gone on hiatus again, this time for two weeks, after having shut down for a week and started back up. Smith, Sonnenfeld and the producers have been fighting. The start date for filming had already been put off.”

The disputes are believed to be about the script for the film, which also stars Tommy Lee Jones and will be released in 3-D.

“I Am Legend” star Smith is known for making waves. In March, he reportedly created drama on the set of his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s TNT show “HawthoRNe.” The cast was given an eight-day hiatus after it was reported that Smith was “inserting his input and requesting so many changes to the script that it pushed back the production schedule tremendously and caused everything to spiral out of control.”

Smith was also recently blasted by his former “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” co-star Janet Hubert, who said in her book, “Perfection Is Not a Sitcom Mom,” that he “had people around him who made sure no one outshone him.”

A Sony Pictures rep told Page Six, “The only reason production will begin in mid-November as opposed to late October is to take advantage of recent changes affecting New York State film incentives. Suggesting that a disagreement triggered the shift is complete fiction.”

Another movie source told Page Six, “Will and Barry have worked together on numerous films and they are friends as well as creative collaborators.” A rep for Smith didn’t respond to e-mails and calls.